Amusement apparatus.



J. W. ANDREWS.

AMUSEMENT APPARATUS. AFPLICATION FILED NOV-25.1916.

1335,41 1. Patented July 31, 1917.

VNVENTOR Jmes Winn Pew.

ATTORNEY AMUSEMENT APPARATUS;

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 31, 1917.

Application filed. November 25, 1916. Serial No. 133,412.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JAMES W. ANDREWS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Oglesby, in the county of Corvell and State of Texas, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in an Amusement Apparatus,of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an amusement apparatus and has for its objectto provide an apparatus for the purpose which is designed to be set upat places of recreation or public resorts beside a body of water such asa lake or pool, and mounted on the apparatus are a plurality of seats orsteps which may be tripped by any one hitting a target with a ball andthe weight of the person on the step causes the latter to drop and theperson thereon to fall into the water.

vide an amusement apparatus of the character set forth with an inclinedplane made of a number of pivoted sections which may be simultaneouslymoved into horizontal position to form steps or seats and be held insuch position by a trip device provided with a target which latter uponbeing hit by a thrown ball will release the several sections of theinclined plane or steps and permit them through the weight of one ormore persons thereon to aline one with the other and form a continuousinclined plane or sliding board down which the persons who were seatedor standing upon the steps will be caused to slide and be thrown into abody of water over which the apparatus is erected.

With the above as the principal object in view and other objects to bebrought out hereinafter, the invention consists of the novelconstruction, combination and arrangement of parts herelnafterdescribed,

pointed out in the claims and illustrated in the acompanying drawings 1nwh1ch:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the complete apparatus as it appearswhen erected on the edge of a pool or other body of water. Fig. 2 is afront elevation of the same. Fig. 8 is a top plan view of the uppermostpart of the apparatus. I i

Fig. 4 is a bottom vlew of any one of the steps forming a part of theapparatus, and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the l1ne 55 of Fig. 2.,

In the drawing, 10 indicates a: pair of Another object of the inventionis to pro timbers arranged side by side and paralleland extendingupwardly at an inclination as shown from the edge of a lake, pool orother body of water 11, the timbers 10 extending to any height desiredand supported caused to turn on their pivot in line with one another asindicated in dotted lines in Fig. 5. The boards or steps 13 each has acleat 16 on its under side near each lateral edge or edge adjacent thetimbers 10 through which cleats a short distance back of the center ofthe step isvpassed a rod 17, the ends of which project beyond the edgesof the steps and into the timbers 10 forming a shaft or axle for thestep which latter, due I to the fact that the rod 17 is in rear of thecenter thereof, will tilt from its own weight, the forward edge of thestep dropping. A second rod 18 extends through the cleat 16 parallel tothe rod 17 and to this rod there projects downwardly and rearwardly aloop or eye 19 the several loops or eyesof all the steps being pivotallyconnected with an inclined rod or bar 20 extending from the bottom tothe topmost step so that when any one of the steps is caused to moveeither into an inclined position or into a horizontal position all thesteps will move in unison because of the connection therebetween by therod or bar 20. Preferably a block 21 is fastened to each timber 10between the cleat 16 and said timber at the axis 22 of the rod 17, saidblock having a horizontal edge 23 on its upper end and an inclined face2401i its front side. These blocks, it being understood that two areprovided for each step, form a support for the steps when in bothhorizontal and inclined positions. 1

At the top of one of the posts or timbers 12 is fastened a bracket 25 inwhich is j ournaled a short vertical shaft 26 on the upper end of whichis atiixed a horizontal arm 27 that extends toward the top step 13 andat its'end is provided with a finger 2-8 that extends at a right angleto the arm 27 and overlies the top step 13 at one edge in rear of itspivot rod 17 when the steps are in their horizontal position as shown inthe drawings. The trigger, comprising the arm 27 and finger 28, ismaintained normally in the position shown by a spring 29 wound about theshaft 26 and hearing at one end on the arm 27 and at its other endagainst the bracket 25. The lower end of the shaft 26 is fitted with anarm 80 that projects in a direction opposite the arm 27 for any desireddistance and carries on. its ends a target 31. V I

To use the apparatus, the steps 13 are moved into their horizontalposition as shown and the finger 28 of the trigger permitted to extendover the top step in rear of its axis of rotation by which means all thesteps are maintained in the position shown. One or more persons wearingbathing suits or other suitable clothing will stand or se at themselveson any of the steps 13 desired while other persons at a. suitabledistance from the apparatus will throw balls the size of a base ball atthe target, which upon being hit with sufiicient force will cause theshaft 26 to rock in the bracket 25 and withdraw the finger 28 from thetop step whereupon the weight of the steps and the one or more personsupon them will cause them to quickly tilt into the position shown indotted lines in Fig. 5 thereby forming a smooth inclined plane downwhich all the persons heretofore upon the steps will slide into thewater to the great amusement of the onlookers. The steps are then resetby an attendant grasping any one of them and turning it into ahorizontal position, the rod 20 serving to turn all the steps at thesame time in like position and the upper step striking the beveledsurface of the finger 28 will cause the latter to swing backward untilthe step is below the level of the arm whereupon the finger 28 willunder the action of spring again engage the top step and hold all ofthem in horizontal position. The faces 23 of the blocks 21 prevent thesteps being turned beyond a horizontal position when set for operationwhile the faces 24 of said blocks hold the steps at such an angle thattheir upper surfaces will form practically a true plane from the top tothe bottom of the apparatus, and the width of the steps is such thattheir adjacent edges when the steps are in an inclined position are butslightly separated thus providing a smooth and safe sliding board forthose who are thrown into the water.

lVhile I have shown and described what I consider the best form of thedevice, it is to be understood that various changes may be made in theconstruction and arrangement of the several parts without departing fromthe spirit of the invention, if changes come within the terms of theappended claims.

W hat I claim is r 1. An amusement apparatus comprising a downwardlyinclined frame, a plurality of supports pivoted on said frame andadapted to be moved into horizontal position and maintained in saidposition by a trip device, means connecting the series of supportingmeml'iers to cause them to move simultaneously, and means adapted to beactuated when hit by an object thrown at it for disengaging the tripdevice and permitting said supporting members to tilt and form acontinuous inclined plane.

2. An amusementapparatus comprising a oownwardly inclined frame, aplurality of supporting members pivotally supported by said frame atequal distances apart throughout the length thereof, means connectingsaid supports to cause them to move simultaneously, a trip deviceadapted to hold all of said supporting members horizontally, and meansconnected to said trip device and adapted when struck by an objectthrown at it to actuate said trip and permit said supporting members totilt and form a continuous inclined plane.

3. An amusement apparatus comprising a sectional inclined plane, each ofsaid sections being pivotally supported to swing into a horizontalposition, means connecting all of said sections to cause them to movesin'iultaneously, and a trip mechanism for holding said sections intheir horizontal position and adapted when hit by a thrown object torelease said supports and permit them to tilt into position to form acontinuous inclined plane.

a. An amusement apparatus comprising a pair of spaced parallel'timberssupported in an inclined position, a plurality of steps or seatspivotally mounted between said timbers from their lower to their upperends, a rod connected to each of said steps or seats to cause asimultaneous movement of the en-' tire group, a trip device engaging theuppermost of said steps to hold them all in horizontal position, and atarget connected to said trip device adapted to be hit by a thrownobject and release the steps permitting them to tilt into position toform a con tinuous inclined plane.

An amusement apparatus comprising a pair of spaced timbers arrangedparallel to each other in an inclined position, a plurality of steps orseats pivoted between said timbers, rod connected to all of said stepsor seats to cause simultaneous movement thereof, a trip device forholding the steps in horizontal position, resilient means acting Intestimony whereof I aflix my signature 1n presence of two wltnesses.

JAMES W-. ANDREWS.

on said trip device for holding it in engagement with the steps, atarget adapted when hit by the thrown object to actuate said trip andpermit the steps to tilt into a continuous inclined plane, andsupporting blocks on the Witnesses: timbers below each step or seat tolimit their JIM POWELL, Jr., swinging movement. G. H. GRAHAM.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0.

